Review by Chris Gage

NIGHT ETERNAL #0; Writer: Winston Harrell. Artist: William Rodriguez Twilight Comics $1.50 mini-comic.

Mini-comics are a time-honored way for up-and-coming talent (and some folks with more passion than ability) to get their work out to the public. Some of the biggest names in indie comics started out this way, like Dean Haspiel (BIZARRO COMICS, among others) and Alex Robinson (BOX OFFICE POISON). Mini-comics are cheap, often raw – and let's face it, a lot of them are crap – but they're made by people with enough passion to bust their asses to produce work and get it out there, and that enthusiasm often makes for compelling reading.

Twilight Comics is a company that has put out four mini-comics, each priced at $1.50. They have a website (geocities.com/twilightcomics), but it appears to still be under construction, as when I checked it there wasn't much more information to be found there than on the inside covers of their comics (there is a "contact"link where you can presumably order the books by mail). I read three of the four titles. One of them, NIGHT ETERNAL, stood out from the pack, and happens to have a horror theme to boot.

NIGHT ETERNAL is about a sultry female vampire (no name given) and her companion/lover, a Native American werewolf named Silver. The story in the mini-comic is pretty much just atmosphere, as the vampiress chooses a victim in a disco, feeds on him, then leads her lupine paramour on a chase through the darkened city streets.

The art by William Rodriguez is promising – still at NFL Europe levels, but with more experience, he should soon be ready for the big show. The panel of Silver's face transforming from human to wolf vividly shows where he can go if he fulfills his potential.

But you can swing a fanboy at the San Diego Comicon and hit a half-dozen promising young artists. And vampire stories are a dime a dozen. What made NIGHT ETERNAL catch my attention?

Well, it has some intriguing twists to the vampire legend that reflect creative thinking and a foundation for interesting stories. The nameless vampiress shows some talents I haven’t seen before. One, after claiming a victim, she can lick the bite wound and make it disappear, thus concealing her presence from the world. And secondly, she seems to have telepathic powers that allow her to look into the minds of potential victims and see what they’re all about, enabling her to pick as dinner only those whose passing will leave the world a better place. (If she ever comes to L.A., I can make a few suggestions.) Also, the “Villain Collage” on the last page boasts some interesting character designs, showing that the creators have given some thought as to where the series is going.

NIGHT ETERNAL gets two Rabid Fanboys, which is pretty impressive considering it’s being judged by the same standards as comics released by the major publishers. If you run across these guys at a con, stop and check ‘em out. What else can you get for a buck fifty these days? Okay, what else that has gratuitous ass shots?

Review copyright 2003 by E.C.McMullen Jr.

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